I follow a number of Taoist, Buddhist, Accupressure, Traditional Chinese Medicine and other such social media feeds.
This being the waning weeks of the year of the snake has popped up several times over the past few days, associating the end of the year with a metaphoric shedding of skin, as a snake does when it grows and enters a new cycle.
It reminds me of the ouroboros, the image of a snake or dragon eating its own tail that is said to symbolize cycles destruction and rebirth.
Drawing the Star card from the major arcana fits exactly that energy today.
This card is sometimes associated with guidance – like ancient sailors using the stars for navigation. Of course, this winter holiday season, the Christian minded among us might think of the star in the three kings legend. But that isn’t the energy this time at all.
Reference after reference connects The Star with rebirth and renewal.
This is much more cyclic. This is snake skin and ouroboros circles. It’s not about a singular point of guidance. It’s much more complex than that.
When I drew the Star card, I intuitively ‘heard’ “echoing silence” and was reminded of winter nights with a clear sky over snow-covered ground. Even if you are in a city parking lot or a suburban driveway, the night and silence are profound, the quiet echoing behind any noise you might hear.
We are at a cusp. We are at the tail of the ouroboros snake. No one star guides us through this transition.
An entire galaxy of stars promise rebirth.
As dark as this night may be, as anxious and terrifying as the echoing, frigid silence may feel, the stars burn on.
Even the stars move. Everything changes. And that includes changes for the better just as much as the tragedies our fears so often imagine.
I like this layout because it takes a big-picture view of the path ahead but applies to any point in time. It starts the path with the ground at your feet, and moves forward step by step, season by season.
I like to read right to left, as with the past-present-future parts of the layouts I learned from Medicine Cards by David Carson and Jamie Sams. That, plus Ted Andrews’ writings, plus Diane Morgan’s Magical Tarot, Mystical Tao have all formed the foundation of my intuitive work and Tarot reading. That foundation has proven utter solid and reliable, every damn day since 1992.
I wrote this layout to follow that right to left pattern and have used it for myself and for clients for I honestly don’t remember how many years now. Starting with the bottom row, the most right hand card is the current season – in our case today, Autumn. Then it goes across in order of the coming year: Winter, Spring then Summer. Each card gives a sense of the energy ahead and its ebbs and flows. Each card is guidance how to best navigate the foreseeable energy of that particular season. Generally, I connect the season to astronomy, using solstice and equinox rather than months. The boundaries of energy aren’t clearly defined and blur and blend one to the other as time passes. Intuition and spirituality doesn’t happen on a schedule.
Just as Neil DeGrasse Tyson once said that “The universe is under no obligation to make sense to you” the universe is under no obligation to happen according to our expectations, clocks or calendars.
You are just as free as the universe.
You are under no obligation to understand or to feel any particular thing at any particular time. The kindness you show (or don’t) is your only accountability. Alan Watts reminds us that “you are under no obligation to be the same person you were five minutes ago.” Your understanding and experience flows through time, so this kind of reading is not a defined road map
Or as I’ve said for years now – “Tarot doesn’t tell you what will happen in life, tarot helps you figure out what to do when life happens.”
The top card is guidance or some sort of theme for the coming year as a cohesive whole.
I’m going to write this as if it was a private email reading – the only difference would be that private readings get a photo or your unique, individual real world card layout instead of a YouTube short of our collective cards.
Our collective cards today:
Autumn: Ten of Cups
Winter: Six of Inking Balls (akin to pentacles, but not quite)
Spring: Strength
Summer: The Hanged Man
Year: The Star
General Pattern
There is a gentle start immediately ahead with two minor arcana cards, but then stress, energy, change and life in general picks up steam with three major arcana cards in a row. Current chaos continues in general but with a steady plateau for a little while during the colder months in the northern hemisphere. Here I get the mental image of ice on the Potomac river in Washington DC…take that how you will. Whatever your politics, there are some pretty parks and places in the district. The sense of cold and still winter air is pleasant and peaceful, more than polar-vortex stressful. I get a sense of melancholy. Honor the feelings of this coming year. Life is enough of a struggle without doing combat with your own emotions. Acknowledge them. Work with them. Let them be what they are while you do what you need to do to take care of yourself and your loved one. You are under no obligation to happy or joyful when you aren’t. Neither are you under any obligation to be sad or stressed when you aren’t. No one can drive away with your happiness. Your emotions are you own. To paraphrase Eleanor Roosevelt, no one can make you feel any particular thing without your consent and cooperation.
Autumn
The Ten of Cups is nothing but good. Think of all the traditional harvest images. Listen to us old people. Those “old fashioned” (albeit over idealized) cost less and didn’t enrich big corporations and the fascist oligarchy that is trying to get us all killed. Revive depression era traditions … or whatever is meaningful. This is the year for sentimentality and authenticity far, far over spending and commercialism. Cue Linus’ speech from the Charlie Brown Christmas special (minus the religious stuff if you are so inclined) Don’t spend a penny on black Friday. And yes, this is promoting my political agenda. Go promote your values in your own way in your own social media or blog or however. This is a season of authenticity and emotion. Be true to yourself and a satisfying holiday season is very possible.
Winter
Like pentacles, this unique card from the “Strange Suit” of the Alleyman’s Tarot deck is focused on career, wealth and the physical realm. It picks up on the thread of authenticity and quiet austerity that begins with the Fall card.
It asks us ‘is it worth it’?
Are you working and achieving, or over-striving to achieve and Pyrrhic victory. Curate your resources carefully. Effort can turn into drowning easily. Take great care not to bite off more than you can chew. Take great care not to pay too high of a personal life price for a tiny financial gain. Curate your time, attention and emotion as carefully as your financial budget.
Spring
I’m rooting for the lion on this card.
Look closely at the picture on the card. Who you identify with or who you feel drawn to says everything.
Are you the wild-eyed judgmental zealot imposing his will on wild nature, or are you the grace and power of your inner nature throwing off the oppressor?
Choose your side.
Summer
The Hanged Man is a classic symbol of slow progress if not outright stagnation. It may be a welcomed rest after the brief but intense skirmish-like if not outright battle-like energy of the spring. This may be the exhaustion (more than calm) after the storm, but also much needed down time to pick up pieces and bind wounds after difficulty. I mentally hear cicadas and see bright blue skies and intense sunshine. I ‘hear’ “August” and “Doldrums” and feel a tense anticipation of some big event to come (the ’26 election?)
Again a vague reference to the great depression. I am reminded of Lange’s famous Migrant Mother photo from the 1930s. John Steinbeck pops to mind. I don’t logically know why the depression era references, and can’t quite pull in what spirit is trying to say. (Personally, this is referencing my Grandmother) so I leave it to you to see if these references have any meaning for you.
Whacky cake comes to mind too – check out Dylan Hollis’ videos about vintage and depression era recipes. Max Miller’s Tasting History too. Great stuff, that.
Year Ahead
The Star is about guidance. It is about finding a fixed navigation point to guide you through this coming year. Before spring, it is CRUCIAL that you find some mental or emotional anchor to keep you oriented and steady as possible. It might be your religion or philosophy. It might be some habit or practice (meditation, yoga, golf, walking, reading, whatever it is that makes the world seem just a little more sane for you). Making and keeping some small routine in your day is important self-care. Craft a bedtime or wake-up ritual and routine for yourself like you are a five year old and stick to it. Create your own stability wherever you can.
Summary
At this point in the reading, I usually give any colors, crystals or aromatherapy that comes to mind. Usually that is very personal to the person I’m reading for. This may be a general reference to the upcoming holidays, but I see pine and pine cones, with that fragrance. Pine and eucalyptus essential oils diffused in a room can help with garden variety head colds and are thought to be very healthful.
I see both clear quartz and rose quartz. That’s not for everyone, but it will resonate with someone.
Now that morphs into sandalwood fragrance and malachite energy. Rose quartz and malachite are heart chakra colors, for whatever that is worth.
I ‘hear’ “heal your heart” – whichever crystal most appeals to you, it can help ease wounded emotions.
And there the energies step back.
I hope you enjoyed seeing a full sized reading in action. It’s for the collective, so it might be on target for some and a total miss for others – but hopefully some piece of it was helpful to you.
If you want a tarot reading that is custom made just for you, click the ko-fi button at the top of the page. From the ko-fi page you can click through to the readings menu or to the membership page.
Members get one free individual, private reading by email per month plus exclusive content on the ko-fi blog that isn’t found on the all-free, no-paywall blog here.
Email readings are affordable ($10, $15 and $30) and get the full benefit of both my writing experience and my 30 years as a Tarot reader.
That’s it. No bells, no whistles, no drama – just me and my cards typing what I would say to you in person. Tell all of your introvert and book loving friends. These readings are perfect for them. And for anyone who wants to try a reading without a lot of cost or effort. This is the perfect Zen, calm, low battery, out of spoons, stress free, relaxing, low key reading for anyone.
Happy Halloween everyone! See you at the next sip!
Sage Sips is Tarot for your day in the time it takes to sip your coffee.
The light that you shine is a reflection of the star that guides you.
I’m currently reading The Witches Coin by Christopher Penczak. In it he writes:
“The way you look at the world is the way the world looks back.” and “how you see the world is how the world sees you.”
This reminds us of the two way flow, the interconnection between our inner intentions and the outer world. Affirmations, actions all conspire to co-create the world we desire.
Like attracts like. Birds of a feather flock together.
The Star is traditionally a card of hope and success. Today it feels like a promise. If you look for good, you’ll find it. If you look for connection, you’ll find it because if you make that the lense through which you see your world, that is how the world will see you, attracting like-minded people and like-energy circumstances to you.
Choose well the star that guides you because that is the light by which the world sees you – and the kind of world you will see.
Sage Sips members get longer, detailed one card readings by email included in the membership along with discounts on larger layouts, special offers and exclusive content. Join HERE.
Anyone can order private Tarot readings by email or video 24/7 no appointment needed HERE.
“I’m happy the star is our card today. My feeling is that it is a good omen for the year to come. I hear “quiet commemoration and dignified beginning” for the year to come.”
It exists. I promise. I’ve experienced it, and it is possible.
Hello and welcome to TaoCraft Tarot blog and podcast. I’m glad you are here.
Today’s card is the Star from the Alleyman’s Tarot deck with artwork by J Star designs.
Guidance is core to the Star card. Navigating by the stars, finding your north star.
This card and today’s energy takes my mind in a slightly different direction.
My first thought at seeing the card was a supernova. Instead of us reaching out to the eternal sky for guidance, the guidance bursts across time and space to reach us.
Oddly, it reaches out with silence, and peace.
It’s like the old critique of Star Wars. There could be no ka-boom when the death star blows up because there is no atmosphere to propagate the sound waves. We couldn’t hear an entire star explode. Supernova are silent.
I was talking with a friend about another kind of science. We were talking about the confusion and misinformation that raged through the pandemic as hotly as the virus did. Real science and solid facts have never been quite able to keep up with the rumor mill. It’s exponentially worse now that the bubble brained rumor mill runs at the speed of cyberspace. The world is a noisy place when it comes to information.
It seems to me that silence is a hint that you are on the right track.
As we’ve all lived and worked through this thing we’ve all experienced, we’ve all developed our coping strategies. One of mine was to find one or two solid, trustworthy experts and listen to them and tune the rest of the B.S. right on out. There is an element of peace in that.
In her book Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, Betty Edwards talks about a certain mindset, a certain mental place found in the act of drawing (or I would add writing or making knitting or creating almost anything) where the world around you falls silent. That peaceful silence is the place where those activities are most meditative. I tried the exercises in the book. It’s true. I’ve been in that silence of creativity that can also be the doorway for clarity.
Intuitively, I keep getting the phrase “silent lucidity” It took a bit of brain racking and few minutes on google to figure out that it is the title of a Queensryche song from the nineties. Never was a fan, an all I remember of the song is those two words, so I’m chalking this one up to intuition and taking it as a validation of today’s card and message.
When a supernova flashes brighter than all of the other stars, when something cuts through the noise of everyday life and brings you a feeling, if not a literal moment of silent lucidity or peaceful clarity, that….
That is something you pay attention to. That is something that can guide you. That is something worth trusting yourself to find.
Thank you all for reading and listening. TaoCraft Short Sip is Tarot for your day in the time it takes to sip from your coffee. It puts your message first, not advertiser’s so your kind support on the TaoCraft Tarot ko-fi page is very much appreciated.
The blog and podcast will be taking a little coffee break on Thursday, July 28. Email readings are open, still no appointment needed, order anytime. The blog & pod will return Friday. See you at the next sip!
Hello and welcome to TaoCraft Short Sip: Tarot contemplation for your day in the time it takes to sip from your coffee. I’m glad you are here.
Today’s card is The Star from the major arcana.
Birds of a feather flock together. Like attracts like. You are what you eat.
Adages and Proverbs become adages and proverbs because they have proven themselves true for a long, long time. And they tend to apply to a variety of situations.
That whole birds of a feather, like attracts like thing is huge advice for lonely hearts in search of a soulmate. In other words, be the soulmate you want to bring into your life. Do you want the romance of your life to be with a person who is all tied up knots and focused solely on their own feelings or would you rather be with someone who is happy and engaged with life? Be the bird you want to feather with.
It isn’t all soulmates. Like attracts like applies to many other things too. It begs the question of what, exactly, attracts you.
Human beings, it seems, are absolute geniuses for projection and confirmation bias. We see our own desires and our own opinions everywhere we turn. Who you follow, the things you support, the things that inspire you tells the outer world as much about you as much as those things tell you about the outer world.
Curate your inspirations. Actual conversations with actual people aside, would you want to have your social media “likes” as real world meat-space friends? Would you want to be part of their group?
Social media platforms are literally called a feed. We consume media. What would happen to your body if you constantly fed on toxic things? Why would you take any less care with the media you consume? Block and unfollow buttons are powerful protectors is you use them.
I love my social feeds. I’ve met beautiful, kind, wise people from opposite ends of the continent that I never could have met otherwise. Instagram is especially fun since I tend to be a bit visual. My feed is filled with artists, photographers, poets, Taoism, meditation, witches, civil rights groups, some of the best Tarot readers out there, recipes, coffee memes and a fair bit of yarn porn.
There are some pretty wonderful things out there in cyberspace, not just doom and gloom. Of everything out there, what things grab your attention? Who inspires you? The Star card reminds us to take care that those things and people are worthy of our attentions and our aspirations.
Thank you for reading, listening and watching. The blogcast and youtube channel are not monetized and depend on your support. Email Tarot purchases and Tarot Table memberships contribute toward creating TaoCraft Tarot online content. Your likes, subs, shares and follows are always appreciated too.
See you at the next sip!
The deck pictured is Steampunk Tarot by Barbara Moore and Aly Fell used with permissions granted on llwellyn publidhing dot com.
Welcome to the first YouChoose Interactive Tarot of the year. What’s old is new again, because these work the same way as always. You choose how you want to apply the reading (guidance for the day, inspiration/prompt, guidance for a particular problem, etc.) Then you choose your card. Choose on impulse or pause the video and then restart to see the reveal.
The new-new part is the audio from these videos will also be available on the newly re-named TaoCraft Tarot podcast. Clairvoyant Confessional is re-purposed as an episode name. I’ll only be doing confessional-style episodes when the mood strikes. For the most part, the podcast is going to be the audio version of this blog read by a professional computer. I’m not sure but I think it’s Siri’s second cousin twice removed, Remy
Thank you so much for listening, watching and reading!
I’m not the deck collector some readers are, but I have accumulated a fair few. A favorite is the Heart of Stars Tarot by Thom Pham who very graciously gave his permission for me to share the images (and the ones from his new deck, The Runes of Mannaz) with you.
It’s one of my favorite decks for two reasons. The most obvious reason, of course, is the gorgeous artwork. The other reason is his use of famous characters and scenes from movies and TV for most of the cards. That is just how my brain an intuition works. Pop culture is a wonderful communication tool. Not everyone is familiar with the classic Tarot images, but lots and lots of people are familiar with movies and TV. Movies, songs, TV shows come to mind all of the time when I am reading for clients It works. It communicates the idea of a card in a familiar, relatable way far over and above the classic symbolism of the Marseille or Waite Smith Tarot alone.
For example, when I drew the Star card today, the Madonna song “Lucky Star” from her self titled 1983 album popped to mind and is ear-worming there as we speak. That is in no way paranormal considering how much I like 80s music and the fact that this was one of my favorite albums in its time. But at the same time, it can’t be dismissed out of hand when it comes to understanding the card’s message for today.
Since it’s actually been a long time since I’ve heard the song, I googled the lyrics to see if there were any message hints there. It’s just a nice little bubblegum pop puppy-love kind of thing. The line that caught my attention is “you shine on me wherever you are.” That in turn reminded me of how we all, everyone on Earth, see the same stars in the same patterns. Stars connect us as a unified audience for the night sky as well as reminding us that we are, all of us, connected to the larger cosmos. Stars made the stuff that we are made of – literally. As Carl Sagan famously said, “We are star stuff.”
It’s significant, too, that The Star is one of only two cards in this deck NOT based on a famous character or movie scene. The woman on the card is anonymous, the every-woman or every-man. She is both uniquely individual and she is all of us.
Even with pop culture references, getting to the right message for a client (or blog/podcast/youtube audience takes a few steps. Sometimes, like today, a card will daisy-chain widely different ideas into one cohesive thought.
Lucky star reminds us we are connected, stars shine on all of us wherever we are. The figure on the Heart of Stars card is both unique, unknown, and symbollic of any or all of us. We are individuals, yet deeply connected. We are individuals together. Although the small points of light in the sky might look the same, there are many sizes and types of stars, all at a unique distance from us that is constantly changing. Stars are individuals together in the cosmos, as are we.
The Star, and the domino chain of intuition reminds us that we are each wonderfully, gloriously, beautifully unique and wonderfully, gloriously, deeply connected.
Pause the video if you need more time to pick your card, then restart to see the reveal. Scroll down to see your card reading. Please follow the blog so you don’t miss any of the learn-to-read-Tarot and other “my side of the table” written content that will be coming up over the next few months.
Left: Knight of Pentacles. “SUSTAIN” A knight that drops his shield in a battle doesn’t survive for very long. In this case “back to business” does NOT mean back to the way things were before. It means put on your big kid underwear and keep going, even if you are exhausted to the bone. Last month was alarms and claxons and responding to a real life and death emergency, collectively speaking. This isn’t recovery. This is keep going. Keep your guard up. This card is letting us know this isn’t close to over. We needed a period of mobilization, freak-out, and adjustment, without judgement. Now is the time to be adjusted already and sustain our response. Forget before. It’s time go get to the business of the business at hand. Energies are shifting from an all out sprint to a sustained, marathon endurance pace.
Center: Nine of Wands. Read the Knight of Pentacles, this is basically the same message on a slightly less literal and more mental/emotional level. Energies are shifting, but stay on guard. If you are empathic or otherwise energy sensitive, continue to set strong boundaries. Don’t be a victim. Be responsible. Do the self-care you need to sustain through this middle phase. There is no “back to normal.” Do what you need to do to be in a good head space right here, right now.
Right: The Star. “Thank the things that got you this far” This is also has a bit of a mental/emotional/spiritual spin to it, although it is important to know the physical realm people and resources that have helped you…and the things that can and will help you still. Pay it forward as best as you can both now and later. Less literally, think about the things that got you through the initial response and change and is helping you to sustain as we begin the middle of unknowable duration. What ideas, beliefs, people and practices have gotten you this far? What old beliefs that “should” be your rock and your shelter have crubled to dust under the weight of everything? What beliefs have supported and sustained you? What new shining star guides you when the world seems to spin out from under you? Forget before. What ideas and beliefs have proven their worth under these very real stresses be they old or new?
Buckaroo Bonzai said “No matter where you go, there you are.” Well, here we are. It isn’t like it was, but it is what we have. Now it is time to own what we do with it.
Left: OK here is today’s pandemic pep talk. More change is on the horizon. It’s a crazy time if you look at things globally or if you are out there in the thick of it doing important work, but everyone else is being asked to hibernate. Hibernators have it easy. Like a bear that was forced to wake up too soon, or a bear asked to hibernate in the summer, you may feel a little off kilter or out of the natural cycle of things. Plod along, grind it out, just keep on staying in your cave and washing your paws. If things can change TO this, it can change FROM this sooner or later.
Center: Ten of Cups. My attention is drawn to the sudden hops that actual grasshoppers make more than long and varied symbolism of grasshoppers that Mr. Andrews writes about in “Animal Wise.” In fact, the energy around this card today reminds me more of Tigger from Winnie the Pooh than a grasshopper. It is also like a gentler version of the “remember to play” aspects of the Fool card that we sometimes see, too. Play hopscotch in the driveway. Spend a little quality time staring out the window. Play a game of Twister. The big picture perspective of the world is still pretty scary, but it is perfectly ok to zoom in to some personal moments. Have a minute of fun and several long minutes taking in and sending out love across the distance. Love can leap anywhere.
Right: The Star. Firefly eh? Good TV show that. I recommend it. But this card reminds me of a different reference. One of my favorites. You’ve heard it before, but it must be a good moment because here it is again all these decades later. Anyone remember “City Slickers” with Billie Crystal and Jack Palance? You could call this idea Curly’s Finger. There is one thing that makes sense out of life … the trick is figuring out what that is. Figure out the one thing that makes sense of it all and you are ahead of the game. It’s only THE one thing if it is YOUR one thing. What makes sense of it all for you? Follow that. Follow the north star, not the finger that points to it.
Sage Sips / TaoCraft Tarot 
You must be logged in to post a comment.